Screenshot of French Embassy's post on Sina Weibo that quotes Chinese writer Lu Xun

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Western diplomatic agencies have been conducting public diplomacy on the Chinese internet, with many insinuating China's inaction during the conflict, although they know the cause of the crisis was NATO's eastward expansion. 

A post from the French Embassy's official Weibo account on Tuesday quoted Lu Xun, a well-known anti-imperialist Chinese writer, as saying that "lies written in ink can never disguise facts written in blood." 

The comment drew backlash among netizens, given the historical background of Lu Xun's quote - the March 18 massacre, a tragedy in which Chinese civilians were killed and injured opposing the ultimatum from the eight nations to invade China amid an anti-imperialist demonstration. 

As one of the participants in the ultimatum from the eight nations, France also played a disgraceful role in the imperialist exploitation of China.

Many Chinese netizens believed that the post intended to criticize Russia amid the Ukraine crisis. "An imperialist should not use the anti-imperialist writer's quote to criticize others," one Weibo user wrote in response to the French Embassy's post.

"I am often amazed by the shame of some Western countries, after so much genocide, trafficking, colonization, slavery, invasion, and slaughter, they can still talk about righteousness and morality in a dignified manner," wrote one netizen.

Global Times